Service Above Self.
There’s no time like now to refocus on that, Rotary’s motto since 1911, the handful of members left in the Sharon Springs Rotary Club agree.
How?
With help from CNY Rotary, a grouping of 3,000 members and 115 Rotaries that goes live on July 1, 2024, Whitney Pangburn, District Governor for Rotary District 7190, told them Monday.
District 7190—which also includes the Cobleskill and Middleburgh Rotaries—has about 3,000 members in 32 clubs and most are struggling with numbers, DG Pangburn said.
Some have combined, some have gone out and some have done both, she said, while others meet over Zoom or as e-clubs or as satellites of other Rotaries.
“Rotary is whatever you want it to be, whatever you need it to be,” DG Pangburn said.
And Sharon Springs wants to be a “real” Rotary so it can continue to have an impact on the local community.
“Rotary has always been important here,” said Rotarian Pam Baxter, who grew up with the Sharon Rotary and now travels from her home in Albany for meetings.
“There was the Youth Exchange, two years ago we paid for the pump at the pool—it wouldn’t have opened without it…”
During COVID, the Sharon Springs Rotary worked with the Northeast Food Bank and other organizations to host food drive-thrus at the Walmart Distribution Center and the school, a project they’d like to pick up again, said President Elliott Adams.
Those collaborations are key, DG Pangburn said, and the Sharon Springs Rotarians agreed they need to reconnect with staff at the school as well as with the larger community.
“I heard nothing but positive things about Rotary from people I invited here tonight,” Ms. Baxter said.
Unfortunately, most had other commitments—like school sports—again, a problem everywhere, DG Pangburn said.
“Sometimes it’s just a matter of picking up the phone, not emailing, not texting,” she said. “Going back to basics. We’ve gotten so far away from that…”
DG Pangburn ran through some events other Rotaries have created to make themselves more visible and fundraise at the same time, including a cornhole tournament at Rivers Casino and fried dough and kettle corn machines members set up at local events.
All of it, though, takes members and while the possibility of merging with other clubs was discussed—and could still be a possibility---Sharon’s Rotarians would rather not.
“I really think if we reach out, if we get the word out there, if we remind people what we’ve done in the past…” Ms. Baxter said.
“A lot of people remember Rotary from when they were in school here. And there’s a whole new generation of parents.”
One of the main reasons she’s opposed to merging though?
Because every time SSCS has been asked to consider merging with other schools, the answer has always been no.
“I feel the same way about Rotary,” Ms. Baxter said.
“I think it’s worth at least trying to explain what Rotary can offer.”